Tiered surgical instrument tables provide medical personnel access to a surgical site of a patient as well as access to surgical equipment and supplies for use during a surgical procedure. For example, a tiered surgical table provides a lower tier supporting surface on which a patient may lie for surgery while an upper tier provides a supporting surface for placement of medical equipment and supplies.
It is important that the surgical theatre provide a sterile environment. In addition to conventional sterilization of surgical equipment and supplies, tables are often covered with surgical drapes to provide an insolating sterile surface on which to place surgical equipment and supplies as well as help isolate the surgical site. Surgical drapes are typically large sheets of a non-permeable material for controlling fluid flow but may provide absorbent materials for receiving and holding fluids during surgery.
Tiered surgical tables, while providing convenience of locating the patent in reasonable and accessible proximity to the medical equipment and supplies, present additional problems as to sterile operating surfaces. Often, several drapes sheets are placed in overlapping relation. One known surgical drape is provided for use with surgical tables having a lower tier and an upper tier at least partially extending over the lower tier surface. The drape isolates the sterile lower tier surface from a contaminated underside surface of the upper tier. The drape includes a bottom sheet that covers the lower tier and a top sheet that covers the upper tier. A middle sheet attaches to the top surface of the bottom sheet and to a front edge of the top sheet. The middle sheet spans the open gap between the two tiers in order to isolate the sterile lower tier surface from the underside surface of the top tier. However, this drape has drawbacks to its use, notably there are open gaps on the sides of the drape between the tiers and proper installation is not readily accomplished.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved drape to cover tiered surgical tables. It is to such that the present invention is directed.